Re: Recently released QPL
Jonathan,
I understood your intent.
It's laudable. In fact, I was planning myself to write a license very
like that which you describe.
However, I question that it's necessary.
IMO, it would be a good thing if all free software were GPLed. I believe
in copyleft.
Now, I respect other authors' right not to copyleft their software.
They can do what they want with it.
However, the GPL's incompatibility is its strength. People *do*
relicense their software under the GPL when they realise that not doing so
has caused compatibility issues.
It's a more forward-looking approach, in a curious way.
Suppose you, Jonathan, release a really cool library libbar, under your
putative new license. FiendSoft, Inc. then publish a really cool
modification to it - libbarplus, and release it under a really irritating,
but DFSG-free, license. They can do this, because your copyleft gave them
permission. Perhaps the Fiend Public License has a patch clause. And an
advertising clause. Maybe a notification clause, even, if we decide they
are free.
Now, I can't take libbarplus and incorporate it into my GPL'ed
mail-reader. Even if I was the sole author (and thus could add the
necessary permissions to the GPL), I still wouldn't want to. Patch
clauses suck. So do advertising clauses.
I'd probably end up reimplementing libbarplus myself. And GPL'ing the
result. Duplication of work - which is bad. But I'd get a GPL'ed
library, which suits me well.
This is all opinion. You may not care about the above scenario, or you
may think it's inevitable. But I do believe that the pressure that the
GPL exerts, because of its incompatibilities, to GPL everything, is a
beneficial one.
Jules
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| Jelibean aka | jules@jellybean.co.uk | 6 Evelyn Rd |
| Jules aka | | Richmond, Surrey |
| Julian Bean | jmlb2@hermes.cam.ac.uk | TW9 2TF *UK* |
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